


Back in Black

by ayrtonwilbury



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood, F/M, Gore, M/M, Monster of the Week, Supernatural AU - Freeform, i'm really trying to remember the show supernatural right now, spell stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:53:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23413372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayrtonwilbury/pseuds/ayrtonwilbury
Summary: Poe and Ben were trained to be hunters of the supernatural by their father, Han Solo, after their mother was killed by a mysterious yellow eyed demon. Now, their father missing, the pair go on a wild goose chase to find their father and the demon that killed their mother
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi it's the supernatural au that no one asked for but i'm doing it anyway.

“Dad’s on a hunting trip,” Poe said to Ben. “Haven’t heard from him in a few days.”

“My boy, you’ll find her,” the man said and stared at Ben with yellow eyes as he moved closer. “And together you will bring the end of the world.”

“COME BACK.”

Startled from the scream in his mind, Ben woke up in the ‘67 chevy impala with AC/DC blaring. The roar of the impala began to calm him down, just like it did when he was a boy. The music, not so much. He could already feel the headache throb in the back of his head. Poe looked over at him and let out a holler, which aggravated his headache more.

“Rise and shine, Benny!” Poe hollered with a shit eating grin on his face. Ben grunted and sat up in his seat. Though, this was the part that he didn’t miss, his older brother being way too excited for these hunting trips.

“Where the hell are we?” Ben mumbled as he pressed a palm into his right eye while the trees sped past them.

“Somewhere in the middle of bumfuck Colorado,” Poe explained as he sped the impala up since there was no one on the road. They finally passed by an exit for a small town and decided to make base there. “Dad’s coordinates he sent were here.”

“A job?” Ben asked as Poe pulled into a non discreet motel.

“Possibly. He didn’t say in the voicemail,” Poe shut the engine off and stared at the motel. Ben sighed inwardly as he looked at the motel; just like old times. Poe moved to the glovebox and Ben had to spread his legs open so Poe could grab whatever he needed. Ben glared while Poe hummed and grabbed a black credit card. “Ready?”

Poe dropped the credit card on the logbook in front of the guy at the counter. Poe gave him one of his debonair smiles while Ben hunched in the background. The man adjusted his glasses and looked at the name.

“Having a reunion or somffin?” the guy asked as he got a room key ready.

“What’s that?” Poe asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Another guy with the same last name came through,” he explained. “Older guy. Rented out the room for the month.”

Ben opened the door to the room and pocketed his lock picks. Poe grinned and strolled right into the room as if he owned the place. Ben rolled his eyes and closed the door only to see that the room was covered with newspaper clippings of an apparent bear attack around the area. Ben studied the clippings while Poe moved to find anything of value. Poe turned the knob to the bathroom and a wild shriek was heard all while it tackled Poe to the ground. Both Poe and Ben cried out and Ben moved quickly to grab the young girl off of Poe. She even managed to get Poe right in the nose as Ben saw blood spill out onto the ground. Poe sniffed, blood seeped down his nose and onto the collar of his jacket.

“What the hell?” Poe exclaimed as he stared at the girl trapped in Ben’s tree trunk arms.

“Get off me!” she cried out and tried to kick herself free.

“Easy there, sweetheart!” Ben said and struggled with the girl in his arms. “We’re just looking for our dad!”

She stopped fighting and looked at the two of them, her fingers dug into Ben’s skin and he let out a grunt. “Wait...yer Ben and Poe?”

“What are you doing in our dad’s room?” Poe demanded as he moved to grab a napkin. He huffed and stared at the ceiling to stop the blood flow.

“He...he left a few days ago,” the girl said quietly and Ben let her go. She moved away from Ben and stared at the two of them. “He said to wait for you two to come get me.”

“Is this the job?” Ben asked Poe in confusion. Dad never had them deal with civilians before, mostly other hunters. Poe looked over at Ben and shrugged his shoulders. Ben moved his eyes back to the girl. “What’s your name?”

“It’s Rey,” she said finally.

“Do you know what Dad was hunting?” Poe asked. Rey sat on one of the beds, Poe on the other, and Ben stood in front of the two of them. They even ordered food and saw that despite her petite figure, she could eat an entire pizza to herself. She chewed on her crust before she nodded.

“He said the werewolf,” she answered and wiped her face before she grabbed another slice. “But, he thinks it’s something else. Maybe a skinwalker or a black dog.”

Ben crossed his arms over his chest. “How much research does he have?”

Rey moved and moved a bunch of papers before she found a large folder. “All this. Every few years or so a group of hikers are killed up in the mountains. Like something-”

“Something’s coming out of hibernation to eat,” Ben finished for her and took the folder. “I’ll look through this.”

“How do you know our dad?” Poe asked her as Ben sat at the small table to read the files.

“I uh...” Rey wrung her hands, unsure if she wanted to tell the story. “Twenty-three years ago.” That piqued both boys’ interest. “I...my mom died mysteriously. But I keep having these...visions I guess? Of a man with yellow eyes.” Rey looked over at Ben with a little confusion but realization. “And of you…”

“Me? Rey, I,” Ben stuttered with his words and chewed his lip. He looked at the ground and said in a small voice. “Come back.”

Rey stared at him with large eyes. “What did you say?”

“Every time I see you in my mind,” Ben explained quickly and stood from the table. “You’re screaming for someone to come back.”

“My dad,” she said as tears fell. “He...he left. And I haven’t seen him since.”

“So that’s the job,” Poe interrupted and stood. “Dad wants us to find the yellow eyed demon and kill him.”

“Poe,” Ben sighed and knew where this argument was going. “We _can’t_. We need dad to help us. We don’t even know what powers that this demon even has. Or what he wants from us.”

“Ben, he’s been plaguing your mind for _years_ ,” Poe argued to stand in front of Ben. Though Ben was younger, Ben still stood a good few inches taller than his older brother. When Poe tried to be intimidating, Ben thought of him as a rottweiler puppy with too big paws trying to square up against an older dog. “Every time you slept, every dream, every damned _nightmare_ he was there. And I couldn’t do anything to help you! We’re finding him and killing the son of a bitch no matter what!”

“Damn it, Poe,” Ben growled out before he took a deep breath. He let it out before he glared over at his older brother. This is why he left; Poe never listened to him. Poe was too irrational and careless and that’s what got Ben the scar on his face. “Poe, we gotta do this other job first. Dad might still be working on it. Let’s retrace his steps and figure this one first, okay? Not without dad.”

Poe sneered and crossed his arms over his chest. “Fine.”

“Chewie and Finn should still be in the area,” Ben explained and tried to win Poe over. He knew that he had a soft spot for Chewie’s adopted kid. “We can try to get a hold of them, too. See if they know where dad went.”

Poe moved towards the map that was on the far wall. “But, we still have to go to the coordinates dad sent us.” He tapped the place. “Blackwater forest.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> past and present meet each other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come bother me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/Dingwa11)

**23 years earlier**

It was already late when Leia held her youngest son to try and get him to sleep. She thought this got easier after the first child. He gave a little fuss but nuzzled against her chest and it made her heart swell once more.

“Mommy?” a small voice called to her.

“Poe,” she smiled and knelt down to be eye to eye with her oldest by the door. “What are you doing up?”

“I heard Benny,” he said and rubbed his eyes. “Wan’a make sure he was okay.”

“My little protector,” Leia continued to smile as she stood up, a hand went through his long curls. “Ben is fine, honey. He can’t sleep through the night like the rest of us.”

“Coz of the monsters?” Poe asked more awake and gave her a smile with a missing front tooth. “I gotta protect him, mommy. Daddy said so.”

“And you will do fine to protect him, my love,” Leia said warmly as she moved to sit in the rocking chair near Ben’s crib. Poe moved and with gentle precision, sat on Leia’s lap as well. Leia chuckled and wrapped her other arm around Poe.

Han Solo came home to the sight of his wife and two kids sleeping in Ben’s room. He leaned against the doorway as he took it in. If you had told Han Solo would be a father, have a decent home life, and a beautiful wife he would have punched you in the face. Finally, he moved and picked Poe up from her lap, careful to not disturb Ben or Leia just yet.

“Daddy?” Poe mumbled into his shoulders, his arms around Han’s neck.

“Hey little man,” Han said and brought Poe back to his room, one of his hands rubbed Poe’s back gently.

“I was protecting Benny,” Poe said as Han set him into his bed and tucked Poe back in.

“I know, you’re doing a good job,” Han said gently with a smile. “You’re going to be a good protector one day, Poe. For your mom and Ben.”

Poe was asleep before he could respond and Han slowly brushed the long black hair away from Poe’s eyes. He stayed for a few minutes before he moved back to Ben’s room, to see his wife and child still asleep. He picked up Ben, who squirmed but immediately relaxed as Han bounced him slowly.

“Han?” Leia asked, voice full of sleep.

“Go to bed, princess,” Han whispered and kissed her. “I’ll take care of our little starfighter.”

Han joined her in bed a couple minutes later, his arms wrapped around her tightly. If you told Han Solo that his life was perfect right now, he’d be inclined to believe you for once.

Leia woke up startled from a dream about Ben. Her Ben, her young boy who caused destruction to the world under the influence of a man in black. She kicked off the covers and needed to see if Ben was all right. She looked over at Han to see him still sleeping. She quickly moved out of bed and headed straight for Ben’s room. As soon as she opened the door, she scanned the room to see Ben in the arms of a man in black. Leia took a step back in shock.

“Your time is up, Skywalker,” the man said as he poured some of his blood into Ben’s mouth. Ben whimpered before he began to cry. The man looked up with a grin on his face as his eyes burned yellow.

Han woke up to an empty bed. He groaned as he rolled out of bed and headed towards Ben’s room. He was going to gently scold Leia for being too affectionate to their youngest. When he opened the door, Ben was crying. Han went to the crib and moved to pick him up when he saw something drip onto Ben’s forehead. Han’s brows furrowed and tentatively brushed the dark liquid off Ben before he let out a gasp; blood.

“Leia,” Han whispered, and whipped around the room to find her before he slowly raised his head upward.

“Fuck!” Han cried out and tripped over himself as he saw Leia on the ceiling, her stomach cut open. Leia screamed as fire exploded around her. Han cried out as the fire licked his arms while Ben screamed in his crib. Han immediately grabbed Ben and rushed out.

“Daddy!” Poe cried and ran towards him.

“Take your brother and go! I’ll be right behind you!” Han cried out and handed the small bundle to Poe.

Poe gasped when Han ran back into Ben’s room and screamed out Leia’s name. Without looking back, Poe ran down the stairs and out of the burning house.

**Now**

“So according to Dad’s research, this thing has been coming out of hibernation every five years,” Ben explained as he paced around the room. “I’m not sure it’s a werewolf, though. Maybe a skinwalker.”

“Black dog maybe?” Poe asked.

Ben shrugged his shoulders. “Probably. Never be too sure.”

Rey was quiet at the table, reading from one of the many books in the room. Poe stared at the map while Ben walked over to Rey. Rey looked up and gave him a smile. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Ben said softly. “What are you reading?”

“One of the notebooks that Han left,” Rey said and handed it over to Ben. Ben let in a sharp inhale as he stared at the beaten up leather notebook. He took a step back as if the notebook would burn him. “Ben?”

“Poe?” Ben called. Poe moved to stand next to Ben. When Poe saw the notebook, he swallowed.

“Where did you get that?” Poe asked, his voice full of concern.

“Your dad left it here?” Rey said confused. The two continued to stare at her and the notebook. Her eyes moved from Ben to Poe to the notebook and continued the circle before she asked. “Whhhy are you looking at it like that?”

“Dad’s journal,” Ben breathed out finally after a pregnant pause. “Dad never went anywhere without it. Why...why would he leave it here?”

“Maybe he wants us to uphold the family business, Benny?” Poe suggested and shrugged but had a grin on his face. Ben was pretty sure that Poe had a permanent grin on his face.

“Poe, you don’t understand. That is dad’s _entire life_ ,” Ben explained. “Every monster he’s encountered, their lore, their _weaknesses_ , everything. Dad wouldn’t take that out of his sight.”

“Dad wants us to have it,” Poe said finally. “He wants us to keep going.”

“Why aren’t you with dad, anyway?” Ben asked curious.

“Ben, I’m twenty-seven, I think I can handle my own hunts now,” Poe winked at him.

A phone buzzed and the brothers turned to see Rey write back before she looked at them. “Luke just texted. Another death in the woods; a couple.”

“You’re in contact with Luke?” Ben blanched. Poe instinctively moved to protect Ben as if Luke was in the room with them.

“He taught me for a bit when your father was on a job,” Rey explained. “Do you two know Luke?”

“We’ve met,” Ben muttered darkly.

“Is Luke here?” Poe asked Rey and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I think he’s still in Wisconsin or whatever,” Rey said. “I mostly text him about stuff. Jobs that Han does and see if he can get information about the creature.”

“Good because we’re not dealing with Luke,” Poe stated stubbornly as he grabbed his jacket. “Come on, let’s head to the forest to see if we can find some clues.”

They stood in front of the small little cabin that was used as a visitor’s center for the Blackwater forest. Ben and Rey checked out the large map on the wall while Poe was invested in the stuffed grizzly bear in the corner of the room next to the mounted head of a deer.

“Look at that,” Rey whispered and pointed where Blackwater was on the map. “There is literally nothing there.”

“Why do people even go out there?” Ben asked confused. “There’s nothing there.”

“You kids heading up to Blackwater?” the ranger asked them. The trio turned to face the ranger.

“Yes sir,” Poe drawled out. “We’re college students, see. Doing research about the fauna in the area.”

The ranger sighed and nodded. “I would advise you not to go out there because of the missing hikers but kids like you never listen. There’s something out in them woods killing them folk but we can never find what it is. There’s nothing but black ash all ‘round instead. Like a fire broke out or something.”

“What was that?” Ben asked and took a step forward to the ranger. “Black ash?”

The ranger nodded. “Figured they were just starting up fires incorrectly. Kids these days are young and foolish.”

The trio stared at each other before they headed into the woods. Poe held onto the small duffle bag of supplies as they trudged on.

“So what’s the deal with Luke?” Rey asked to break the silence. “What did he do to you to hate him so much?”

“Gave us a job,” Poe stated behind her while Ben stayed quiet. “One of our firsts jobs by ourselves.”

“It was supposed to be _simple_ ,” Ben stated already aggravated as his boots snapped a thin tree branch on the ground. “Almost got us killed.”

“It was a vampire nest,” Poe explained as he walked faster and moved to walk in front of them. “Get in, get out. What he didn’t tell us was that they were keeping some wolves as pets. Fucked everything up real quick.”

“Poe, we were there for two weeks,” Ben snapped. “Luke didn’t tell dad where we were and said it was a lesson for us to survive. Dad almost killed him when he found out.”

_He helped train us too_ , a voice filtered in Rey’s head. _Basically forced Poe to give me the scar on my face._ She stopped walking and looked around the forest in confusion.

“Rey?” Ben asked and raised an eyebrow. “You okay?” _Are you hurt?_

Rey blinked in confusion. “I uh…”

“Hey, over here!” Poe called out. Ben and Rey jogged over to a clearing and stopped next to Poe.

“Whoa…” Rey whispered as she stared at the clearing in front of them. The clearing looked as if it was burned to the ground; there was nothing but black all around them. _There’s nothing here. Not even crickets…_

Ben blinked and looked around. “What?”

“What?” Poe asked him.

“Did you hear-?” he looked over at Rey, who looked at him just as confused. “Nothing.”

“What could have done this?” Rey asked.

“How long ago was the last attack?” Poe asked Ben.

“About two weeks,” Ben said. “It said in the reports they closed off some of the park from visitors to find any evidence.”

“Then why does it smell like someone just put out the fire?” Poe questioned and looked around. Poe was then thrown across the clearing and against a tree.

“Poe!” Ben screamed and ran to his brother but was thrown as well. Ben landed on his back, the black ash swirled around them and he saw it. Red eyes shone in front of him as animal skull growled at him, black blood dripped down its eyes and face. Large spikes jutted out of its skin and every time it moved, the earth below it burned to ash. The large beast roared and tackled Ben to the ground, keeping him in place.

“Ben!” Rey hollered.

Ben looked over at Rey who was backing away from another animal like the one that held Ben down. He looked over at Poe, who was still knocked out. When he looked up at the black figure in front of him. The towering figure wore a helmet to mask its face. It held onto a large scythe, the blade crackling as if it was electrical. Ben’s heart began to race quickly when he saw the symbol that graced over the man’s heart; a red crossguard. He knew who this guy was. The man knelt down in front of him, his breathing erratic because of the helmet. The man tilted his head to stare at Ben, who struggled against the beast.

“Hello Benjamin,” the man said. “Snoke is ready for you now.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> warning: gore and stuff. and force powers.

He could feel the fire on his arms, burning away his sleeves and onto his skin while the beast held him down. The beast growled and snapped its jaws at Ben, who saw the jagged and knife like teeth in its mouth. Ben let out a mangled cry as he bucked upwards to try to off balance the beast. He let out another cry when he felt sharp claws dig into his already burned skin. The man moved closer to Ben, letting his scythe drop to the scorched earth, the cackling ceased to be heard. The man breathed heavily like a hunter with its caught prey. The man knelt down and took off his helmet. The helmet fell next to them in a dull thud and Ben’s eyes moved to the face behind the mask.

The man had scars all over his face; from knives to burn marks. His left eye was missing and left a gaping hole with maggots falling out of the socket. The right eye was black as if the man didn’t have eyes at all. It felt like Ben looked into the pathway to Hell itself. The man’s nose had been cut off and left two holes in the middle of his face which caused the labored breathing. The man had no lips, his mouth in a permanent grin. The man literally looked like a skeleton that slowly peeled away its human skin. The man pulled up his shirt sleeve and Ben could see black veins that coursed up the arm that mixed in with mangled and scarred flesh. Ben swore and used his legs to kick underneath himself as he tried to get away. The man just laughed at Ben’s feeble attempts to get away.

“I think you’ll remember this,” the man stated as he pulled out a small dagger and cut deep into his wrist. Ben could smell the blood from where he lay, the smell of sulfur, copper, and burnt skin invaded his nostrils while his own blood pounded in his ears. The blood was black like the man’s eyes and he moved his wrist to Ben’s mouth. The man gripped Ben’s head, holding him still as he let droplets of blood go into Ben’s mouth. Ben gagged, the taste of demon blood was acidic and felt like he inhaled smoke which caused Ben to spit the blood right back in the demon’s face. The demon growled and slapped Ben across the face. Ben felt his head whip back, seeing stars while his throat felt like it was ripped apart. The demon moved to hold onto Ben’s chin, forcing Ben to open his mouth while the demon poured the tainted blood into him. “That’s it, boy, Snoke will be pleased.”

Ben clamped his eyes shut before he opened them wide, his eyes rolled back and black clouded his vision. He felt his body convulse from the blood and he let out a roar. The beast’s paws no longer felt painful to him. Ben felt a shift in his body, it was a powerful and dangerous change. Ben was about to speak when voices filled his head.

_I need you here, boy. You will do great things for me._

_Poe will always be there to protect you, Ben._

_It’s only a matter of time before you come to me for help, boy._

_You walk out that door, Ben, I will not help you._

_GET AWAY FROM HIM_

The beast that held onto Ben was thrown off and into the demon. Ben rolled to his side and gagged, the demon blood dripped down his chin as he tried to get it out of his system. He blinked and his vision returned to normal when he saw Rey with her hand stretched out. She stared at Ben with wide eyes, unsure what she even did herself. Ben panted and saw the second beast lying next to her, alive but unable to move. The beast huffed and struggled against an imaginary force when Rey’s other hand formed into a fist. The beast howled before it collapsed dead next to Rey. Not too far away, leaves and ash rustled around them while Ben sat up on his knees to see the demon move to his feet.

“The second child?” the demon asked, shocked before he barked out a laugh. “Snoke will be pleased.”

“Who the fuck is Snoke?” Ben demanded and spat out more of the demon blood. He tripped over himself and stood with shaky legs as he sprinted towards the demon. Ben raised his hand and the demon flew to a nearby tree. The demon groaned and stared in fear and in awe. Ben moved closer, his hand shook as he slowly closed it into a fist. The demon gasped as he struggled to breathe; Ben could hear the bones crunch under his touch. The thought of breaking the demon’s ribs sent a wave of excitement through Ben, having that kind of power over someone made him feel like he mattered. Like he was born to do it in the first place, like he was special. Like he didn’t have to prove himself to anyone for the first time in his life. He didn’t have to prove himself to Luke, to his dad, or to even Poe. All his life, he was in the shadow of disappointment because he didn’t want to live this life, he wanted to have a normal life, like going to college and becoming a lawyer like he wanted to. No, instead he was thrust back into this hellish world with the knowledge that he would never get to choose the life he wanted. With his other hand, he threw the beast onto the ground and it actually yelped. It struggled under an imaginary weight before Ben quickly shut his fist, hearing the bones of the beast’s neck crunch and the beast stilled. Rey ran towards Ben to help him out but skidded when Ben stared at her before he turned his attention back to the demon.After he dealt with the beast, he glared at the demon with black and red eyes. “ _Tell me!”_

The demon continued to laugh, maggots dripped out of him as if it was his own blood. Flies flew out of him as his skin began to turn black as if he was being burned alive. Ben panted and wondered if the demon actually enjoyed this. “He will be your new master soon enough.”

The demon screamed as black smoke emptied out of the body, the shrill of many souls filled the sky. The body slumped forward and Ben dropped his hand, the body fell with it. Ben huffed, the smell of smoke and ash filled his lungs and he didn’t want to smell that ever again. Ben held his head as Rey placed a hand on his arm.

“Are you okay?” she asked him. _God, I thought you died._

Ben wiped his chin of the demon blood and spat more out. He felt drained but he had never felt more _alive_. He flexed his hands and glanced over at her before he nodded his head. _This power inside of me..._

“Don’t worry,” she said quietly, just as fascinated as he was. “I feel it, too.”

“What is happening to us?” Ben asked and stared at her with large eyes. _He called you the second child, what did that even mean?_ His eyes then darted behind her to see the clump that was his brother still on the ground. “Poe!”

Ben skidded to his knees as he turned Poe onto his back and held onto him. Poe groaned and his eyes fluttered open, blood dripped down from his forehead and his lip was split opened. “Remind me to tell dad that I fucking hate camping.”

Ben felt tears sting his eyes as he let out a hoarse laugh. He engulfed Poe into a tight hug. He and Poe may not see eye to eye but Ben wouldn’t know what to do if Poe died. Poe looked out for him when no one else would. Poe was really the only family Ben knew, not their father. Poe grunted and patted Ben’s back. “I thought I lost you.”

“It’s gonna take more than a fucking tree to kill me, Benny,” Poe rasped out and tried to pull away from his younger brother. “Can I breathe now? It’s like getting crushed by a fucking tank.”

Ben chuckled and helped Poe to his feet. Poe wobbled and the pair moved under his arms to steady him. Poe looked over first at the beast’s body which slowly dissolved into ash and swirled into the early dusk sky. The human body remained, slumped against the tree while maggots poured out of the eyes and mouth. Poe made a face and watched as the burned skin on the body dissolved until only the skeleton remained. The armor that the body wore vanished, the only clothing remained was a dirtied shirt and pants. Poe raised an eyebrow; that was new.

“Who and what the hell was that?” Rey asked and looked over to Ben. _You need to tell him._

Ben stared at the body with a frown. He didn’t want to tell Poe just yet about what just happened between him and the demon. Ben straightened up as he began to walk away from the body. “They’re called the Knights of Ren and they’ve trained hellhounds to obey them and follow a demon king, who I guess is called Snoke. Maybe. Come on, let’s get out of here.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a little bit of what's going on in ben's head.

They were back at the hotel and packed all of their father’s belongings, taking down their father’s work that hung on the wall. Ben moved in front of the mirror and stopped when he saw a couple of pictures. He saw a picture of their mother, smiling at the camera with a lavish and very seventies hairstyle. He smiled himself before it vanished; he never got to meet their mother. Poe talked about her a lot but Ben wished he could remember. He only remembers her through pictures and not even by memory. The next picture he took off was the three of them on the hood of the impala. Poe with his infamous grin, Ben smiled with two missing teeth, and then their father stoic but had a smirk on his face. His arms were wrapped around the two of them and that was all Ben knew. Poe, his father, and the impala that was in the parking lot just outside of the motel. But even then, he felt so _alone_ with them. Ben always knew that Poe got along with their father a lot better than he did. Ben always seemed to mess things up somehow. Their father never gave Ben much approval and always gave Ben a harder time. Like, how Ben was supposed to know how to do everything instantly because Poe learned it quickly at his age and he should be the same. Like, it was supposed to come natural to him. Instead, it fueled a natural resentment against Poe for much of his teenage life.

He had started hearing the voice when he was five. It was at night and it confused him so much that he woke up Poe to explain it but he was so distraught that he couldn’t get any type of explanation out. Their father was out on a hunt and Poe didn’t know what to do. All Poe could do was hold onto him and say it was all right. The voice was there to tell him that his father didn’t care, that he didn’t love Ben as much as he did Poe. The voice said that his father blamed him for his mother’s death. The voice only came to him when he slept and Ben fear it so much that he forced himself to stay awake until he virtually collapsed from exhaustion. Poe tried to help but he just didn’t know what to do. The voice prompted that Poe was so tired of Ben that Ben should run away and stop being the bother that he was.

He was ten when he accidentally threw his father across the motel room with his mind because he was so exhausted. He didn’t realize he even did it when his father struggled to sit up from his position on the floor. The voice said that they _feared_ him now which is why his father sent them to live with their uncle for a few months. They were training in the dark when Poe sliced Ben’s face with the knife. With the towel pressed against his face, the voice told him that Poe did it because he wanted to kill him. Poe wanted to be back with their father and not with his troublesome little brother.

It was at eleven when he started to believe the voice more and more. Ben began to retreat more into himself and the small little joys he used to have were gone. School was his largest retreat, being able to act like a normal kid for once. However, the voice had different ideas. Planting that everyone and everything hated him. Ben began to let the voice soothe and relax him. He just started to get so angry and destructive. Anger seemed to fuel his ability to use the powers that he used when he threw his father. Each day, he was able to manifest his abilities more and more. The voice told him to continue to train so they could work together to get rid of the darkness in the world. The voice would always say he was proud of his progress and his father would not be. His father would never approve of the powers he had. The mere thought made Ben furious and angry at Poe, angry at his uncle, and complete fueled hatred at their father. The night of his birthday, Ben was ready to run away and meet with the voice that approved of him. Ben was ready to find his place to belong.

It was at fifteen when he heard another voice. It flooded his mind just like the other but it was soft and he could feel the familiar pang of loneliness. He would hear the pained cries of her telling someone to come back. He felt the hunger pains that ripped through the voice and the pain of getting hit. It fueled his rage and he hoped that his rage surged through the second voice. He felt the same self doubts, the self loathing, the fear, and the anger that resonated with the second voice. He tried to reach out to her and failed until his sixteenth birthday. She communicated back to him first. Her voice trumped the other, the hatred that he once felt melted away and was replaced with this small candle against the darkness that Ben felt himself engulfed by for so long. He needed to find her. Each time they felt their connection close he would always say _I’ll come find you sweetheart, I promise._

It was at seventeen when Ben finally confessed to Poe what was going on in his mind. He told Poe all about the voices in his head and why he didn’t tell Poe right away. He told Poe that he was so scared that he thought their father would throw him into a mental hospital and he would be so drugged up that he wouldn’t remember himself anymore. Poe assured him that dad wouldn’t do that but Ben had to disagree. When he felt the voices come, he told Poe and Poe would try his best to ground Ben back to reality. They never told their father about the voices.

At eighteen, Ben couldn’t take being with their father anymore. He packed what he could and left. He wanted to go to college. He wanted to be something that his father could finally say he was proud of him. Ben left and went to college but not before he tried to find the girl in his head. He never found her until just now. He glanced over at Rey, who pulled down some newspaper clippings and looked up. Ben felt the tips of his ears get hot and looked away from her hazel eyes and freckled cheeks. He barely knew her and he could feel her light up the entire room; she was his light in the swirling darkness that drowned him. Ever since he found her voice in his head, he struggled to stay afloat for her, he clawed away at the darkness and found that he didn’t hear the other voice in years because of her.

Ben took the pictures and gently placed them in their father’s journal before they finally cleaned up the rest of the room.

_He still needs to tell him_ , the voice flooded his brain; Rey. Ben looked over at Rey and she stopped what she was doing to look at him. She raised an eyebrow and he furrowed his. They still hadn’t talked about yesterday and what happened in the woods. Ben didn’t want to let Poe know just yet, he wanted to figure it out for himself first before Poe went...well, Poe. Guns blazing and no nonsense attitude. _We have to talk about this...bond we share. Why does he keep shutting me out?_

“There are six knights,” Ben said to break the silence as he left the journal on the table for now. Poe set the boxes aside and sat on the bed to listen. Normally, when Ben had something to say, Poe listened. Rey leaned against the wall she was closest to, her arms loose around her chest. “Each has a specific weapon and hellhounds at their disposal.”

“Do you know who was there yesterday?” Rey asked.

“Dad doesn’t have a lot of information about them,” Ben said and eyed the notebook on the table. “Just names. I think its name was Vicrul; the reaper. He takes the souls of the people he’s killed.”

“Those weren’t normal hellhounds,” Poe stated.

Ben shook his head. “They were almost like...like they were mutated somehow. Like they put it back together from other hellhounds. I’ve never seen hellhouds like that before.”

“Why would dad bring us there?”

“I don’t know, it wasn’t really a job? Maybe those hellhounds were the ones killing people?”

_TELL HIM_ , Ben took a step back and held his head. At the back of his head, a dull throb began to form and what he thought used to be migraines, was actually Rey and her bubbling anger.

“Whoa, Benny, you okay?” Poe asked as he began to stand from the bed but Ben waved him off.

“There’s something else,” Ben said quietly as he tried his best to ignore his throbbing head. “He said that Snoke was ready for me.”

“Why would a Snoke want you?” Poe was severely confused. He wanted a burger and a beer. He wanted things to make sense again...well, more sense that it was now. Poe also wished their dad was here to help them out with this. Poe felt like he couldn’t do this, protect Ben like he promised. But he had to try. Even though Ben left for a few years, Poe never stopped protecting him. He stayed near but never interacted. He would never in a million years tell his brother that. At least, not yet.

Ben crossed his arms over his chest and his shoulders hunched up to his ears in fear and confusion. “I don’t know but...that demon. It feels like they’re going to come after us. After me.”

_Why is he so afraid to tell him?_

“Benny, I’ll make sure that they don’t get you, okay?” Poe stood and placed his hands on Ben’s cheeks to try and steady him. Ben's arms dropped to his side when Poe held his face. “Is he back? Is he saying stuff to you again?”

Ben shook his head and placed his own hands over Poe’s as he felt like a little kid once more. Poe gave a sad smile and pressed his forehead against Ben’s. Ben felt his shoulders sag as he closed his eyes to relax under Poe’s touch. It was Poe’s way of grounding Ben when he heard the voices. He opened his eyes and stared at Poe with large eyeswhile Rey, who felt like she intruded on the moment, understood why Ben didn’t want to tell Poe when she felt all of Ben’s misgivings in this bond they shared. _Our secret._

“Let’s head to Chewie,” Poe pulled away from Ben. “He’ll know what to do.”

_I’ll tell him soon. I promise, sweetheart._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey come hang out with me at either [tumblr](https://ayrtonwilbury.tumblr.com) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/Dingwa11).


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